"Good morning and thank you for having me," a prospective juror boomed, shaking a sleepy courtroom to attention and drawing a chuckle when he revealed he served as a court security officer.

The man proudly declared he's "born and raised" in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, and has been in law enforcement for 34 years, assigned by the New York State court system to the Court of Claims.

He said he's a New York Rangers season ticket holder and does not have a smartphone.

"I still use a flip phone," he said.

He also said the only news he gets is from the Daily News and the New York Post.

A prospective juror with an MBA in finance told the court that he follows Trump on Truth Social but takes no part in political rallies for or against the former president.

"Except for following Michael Cohen or someone like that, I don't follow any anti-Trump organizations," the man said.

"I do not have any beliefs that would prevent me from being fair or impartial," he said.

A woman from the Upper West Side whose husband served as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said she read "the first ten pages or so of 'Disloyal,'" Michael Cohen's book. The woman, who works in publishing, quickly added, "for business reasons."

Another prospective juror, a woman who lives in Greenwich Village, said she read Trump's "Art of the Deal," decades ago.

Trump appears to be actively listening to many of these responses. At one point he called over a court security officer to ask him something.

Attorneys assessing the newest group of prospective jurors are questioning a woman who works at a big law firm, who said she discussed the Trump hush money case "at length" with her coworkers.

The woman said she has both criminal and civil law experience and has "discussed the legal merits of the this case with many co-workers."

Asked by the judge whether she could be fair, the woman pledged to "put that aside" but added "it's hard to un-ring a bell."

The woman, who lives with her fiancé on the Upper East Side, said she took part in the women's march.

She also said she discussed a book by Mark Pomerantz, who had been hired by then-district attorney Cy Vance to work on the Trump investigation. The book was critical of decisions Bragg made about the case, but the prospective juror sought to assure Judge Merchan she could put anything she has heard or read about the case aside.

"I will follow your instructions," the woman said.

Nine additional prospective jurors from the second group of 96 were excused after they signaled they could not serve for other, unexplained, reasons.

Fifty-seven of the 96 in the second pool of prospective jurors have now been excused.

The remaining 39 are now giving their responses to the seven-page questionnaire.

Following the departure of Juror No. 2 this morning after she expressed concerns about her ability to serve, the court must now seat six jurors and six alternates. The court deferred dealing with the potential issue over Juror No. 4.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that he was twice summoned to Trump Tower in the period following the 2016 election: the first time for a meeting with Michael Cohen, and the second with Donald Trump.

The first meeting began in Cohen's office, where Cohen divulged for the first time to Pecker that he personally covered the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, and that he was concerned that he would not receive a bonus from the Trump Organization, Pecker testified.

"He (Cohen) asked me to talk to the boss on his behalf to try to help him get his bonus," Pecker said, referring to Trump.

When Trump himself came into the room, Pecker asked to walk him back to his office -- and at that time, Pecker told Trump that "Michael Cohen is very concerned about his bonus for this year, and I want you to know that he's very loyal."

Trump replied that Cohen had several apartments and taxi medallions, and added, "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it," Pecker said.

On Jan. 6, 2017, Pecker arrived at Trump Tower for a meeting with Trump and was escorted to his residence by Jared Kushner, he testified.

Pecker said he was ushered into the room, where Trump was surrounded by administration officials James Comey, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, and Mike Pompeo -- they were "updating Mr. Trump on the Ft. Lauderdale shooting" that had occurred at the airport there.

Pecker testified that when Trump introduced him to Trump's inner circle of advisers, Trump said of the National Enquirer publisher, "He knows more than anyone else in this room."

"It was a joke. Unfortunately, they didn't laugh," Pecker testified, which brought some laughs from reporters in the gallery. A few jurors smiled at the moment.

Pecker testified that after Trump's advisers left the room, Trump turned to him.

"He (Trump) asked me how Karen [McDougal] was doing -- how's 'our girl' doing. I said, she's writing her articles, she's quiet, things are going fine."

Trump then said, "I want to thank you for handling the McDougal situation." And then he said, "I want to thank you for the doorman situation," Pecker testified.

Pecker testified that he took this to mean that Trump was thanking him "for not publishing any of the stories and helping the way I did."